Modem gaming machines (a.k.a. wagering game machines) are becoming increasingly complex, as they are continuously incorporating new technologies. As the gaming industry moves toward commercial operating systems and networking technologies, techniques for verifying system integrity and security are becoming increasingly important. Threats may be accidental (e.g., errors or malfunctions) or malicious (e.g., hackers, computer viruses, or worms).
In complex gaming systems, it can be relatively difficult to detect suspicious or abnormal operating characteristics in a timely manner. Although current wagering game machines employ mechanisms for ensuring authenticity of program code and resources, these mechanisms may be inadequate against sophisticated threats. For example, hackers may find ways to launch legitimate programs at inappropriate times, subvert legitimate programs by altering program arguments, or even embed viruses or worms within legitimate data files. Commercial security software is typically designed to detect specific previously known threats. Unfortunately, such security software typically cannot detect unknown threats.